Water shortages are being reported in areas of the country that have never before experienced or expected water problems. States with a history of water shortages, such as California, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico are constantly exploring resources to increase their water reserves or to conserve existing water supplies to meet their ever expanding needs. However, the shortage of potable water is not limited to the Sunbelt states, but has also occurred in many urbanized or industrialized states. Three inter-related phenomenon have become miore and more obvious and have contributed to the current water crisis in the United States. Urban populations in the Sunbelt regions have exploded; the demand for industrial use water has been constantly accelerating; and, there has been an increase in the degree of pollution of the existing natural water sources. These three phenomenon have exacerbated the problem and made a solution crucial to the economic and physical well-being of this country and the world. Water utility companies have predicted that in the near future there will be a severe water shortage in many areas of the country which will result in the enforcement of restrictive measures to conserve fresh water. Much has been said concerning the resulting effects of water shortages and much could also be said regarding the causes that have created the problem. However, identifying the problem and the causes has little or no effect in solving the crisis. It thus appears that the most effective means of dealing with the water shortage crisis is to explore more efficient means to conserve the existing fresh water supplies.
One place in which the water supply is used daily is in the area of toilets. It has been estimated that the average household toilet tank contains a reservoir of from 4.5 to 8 gallons of water and that as much as 2.5 to 4 gallons of water per toilet flush could be saved simply by recognizing the fact that a full flush is not needed for most waste disposal purposes.
A toilet normally provides the function of evacuating human organic waste. However, often times it is used to dispose of other matter which does not necessarily need the entire 4.5 to 8 gallons of water in the tank to dispose of the waste. Toilet tanks are designed with an "overkill" in mind. These tanks utilize far too much water for many ordinary flushing purposes. The water not only disposes of the waste in the bowl, but also is used to wash, clean, and rinse the internal surface of the wall of the toilet bowl during each flushing cycle. The cleansing function is necessary only for a small fraction of the total number of flushes needed during the lifetime of a toilet. It has been estimated that the average savings for a family of four which use a dual flush system (differentiating the purpose of the flush and the types of matter disposed) would save approximately 20,000 to 25,000 gallons of water per year. When considering this amount per household to include apartment units, motels, hotels, office buildings, condominiums, or other structures, the savings could constitute a substantial contribution to the water conservation effort. Since there has been a notable increase in the commercial use of the domestic toilet in both new construction and remodeling projects, the estimates of water saving could go much higher.
A search of patents relating to water conservation discloses a common interest among the inventors in the household toilet as a target for inventive efforts, each with the same objective, to conserve water.
There are a number of devices that attack the problem of saving water in a flushing cycle. However, most of these devices are either complicated to install, require a modification of the existing sanitary structures or are unattractive or cumbersome. Other devices which attempted to solve the problem of a dual flush system necessitated modification or changes to the existing systems. Many were not compatible with the existing toilet flush systems, or required unusually complicated activating mechanisms which were not easily installed by the average consumer. Additionally, these devices have a high maintenance requirement and are complicated to use, particularly for young adults or children.
It is the intent of this invention to contribute to the water conservation effort by making available an improved device which has been designed to reduce the amount of water presently used to dispose of liquid waste in a toilet bowl. The invention described herein meets the dual flush requirement to control the amount of water used for the type of waste disposed.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a device that will control the two selected amounts of flush water in accordance with the type of waste to be disposed. It is a further object of this invention to provide a dual flush device that is simple to operate, easy to install, and that is compatible with most past and present day toilet flush systems. The device is marketed as a do-it-yourself kit economically made which requires no tools or mechanical skills for installation. The device itself is of a sturdy construction and has only four moving parts. The parts are noncorrosive and thus require no maintenance. Once installed, which takes less than 10 minutes, the device is simple to operate. One merely pushes the flush control on the exisfsting toilet once for a half flush. If a full flush is required, the flush control is pushed down two times in succession thus enabling the toilet bowl to flush completely and use all of the water in the toilet tank. The device also has a fail-safe capability in the event of a malfunction which automatically recycles or reverts the toilet to the original full flush standby capability. Due to the unique construction of this invention, no parts on the existing toilet need be removed or modified. Additionally, the entire device fits inside the tank and is completely out of view. Unlike many half-flush devices known in the art, one need not hold down a handle or otherwise depart from the normal operation of an ordinary flushing system to properly utilize this invention.
Other and further objects of this invention will become obvious upon reading the following description and specification.